"I didn't see that as a very big deal," said Hart, who was raised in a Christian Science home and didn't realize that Roman Catholic tradition doesn't include women priests.

Hart, 55, of Monterey, Calif., a photographer and filmmaker for 25 years, often focuses on women's issues. As she talked to the people involved in the movement for ordaining women in the Roman Catholic Church, she grew interested in a film project.

The film, Hart said, explores the complex choices made by women who, for the most part, have been faithful church members, sometimes working in parishes or schools. Yet, they have felt a call to a priesthood that their church says isn't available to them.

The Catholic Church's position was underscored in 2002 after seven women said they were ordained by a German bishop. The church's Sacred Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faithful reiterated a statement by Pope John Paul II, which says in part: "The Church has no authority whatsoever to confer priestly ordination on women and that this judgment is to be definitely held by all the Church's faithful."

Citing that statement, church officials on March 18 asked the Rev. Roy Bourgeois, a Maryknoll priest who appears in the film supporting women's ordination, to recant his statements or face possible dismissal from the priesthood.

In an interview last week, Bourgeois, 72, said, "In essence, they are telling me to lie. ... That I cannot do."

All Catholic priests say they have been called by God, Bourgeois said, adding: "Who are we as men to say our call from God is authentic but your call as women is not? Who are we to reject God's call to women?"

Since 2002, more than 100 Catholic women have been ordained, said Suzanne Thiel of Portland, the board president for Roman Catholic Womenpriests U.S.A., Inc.

Hart said, "I believe we must be able to discuss things, especially something like this that touches every aspect of our lives."